Studley Tool Chest Poster

Detailed Description

Studley Tool Chest Poster

Out of print for years, the Studley Tool Chest Poster is once again available! This amazing 19th-century tool chest was first featured on the back cover of Fine Woodworking in July 1988. The photo was so popular it was turned into a poster that quickly sold out.

A limited reissue of this famous poster can be yours. Here's your chance to display this beautiful full-color poster in your workshop, office, or den - and the perfect gift for woodworkers, tool collectors, or anyone who enjoys handcrafted art. This reissued poster features an updated image of the tool chest, which shows off recent repairs to the inlay as well as replacement vintage tools.

This handsome poster has a wonderful story behind it and the intricate design continues to inspire and intrigue woodworkers. Master craftsman Henry O. Studley built this magnificent tool chest during his tenure at the Poole Piano Company in Massachusetts, working on it over the course of 30 years. Using ebony, mother-of-pearl, ivory, rosewood, and mahogany - all materials used in the manufacture of pianos - he refined the chest to the point that, even now in the 21st century, it is still in a class by itself.

The more you study this poster, the more you will appreciate this tool chest's clever design and complex workmanship. It holds 300 tools, yet measures only 9 in. deep, 39 in. high, and 18 in. wide, when closed. Every tool has a custom-made holder to keep it in place, many with beautiful inlay, and tiny clasps that rotate for easy access. As the chest folds closed, tools from the left side nestle precisely between tools on the right side, an engineering marvel.

Before he died in 1925, Studley gave his tool chest to a friend whose grandson, Peter Hardwick, loaned the chest to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. in the late 1980s. It has since been sold to a private collector and is no longer on display, but you can own this beautiful poster and enjoy this handcrafted work of art at your leisure.